Shamed in the Lunch Line
Cold PB&Js for students who can’t pay? Some states are saying no.
Mattie covers all things health for Governing. A native of Arkansas, she graduated with her M.S. from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism with a focus on public health reporting. Her work has been published in National Geographic, New York Magazine and The Atlantic.
Congress is promising to tackle them this year. Can it succeed where states haven't?
Community paramedicine is changing the way some places respond to health emergencies.
The influx comes at a time when the foster care system is scrambling to adjust to major federal changes.
In just three years, more than a dozen states have passed resolutions declaring pornography a public health crisis. The research is more complicated.
The policy failed another court test, this time in New Hampshire. Despite the rulings, other states are moving forward with work requirements.
The state is restoring the individual mandate and making an unprecedented effort to help the middle class afford health insurance.
Red-state voters supported it in the fall, but Republican lawmakers in other states are still hesitant.
The potential change in the federal poverty line would lower the number of people who qualify for social services by almost 1 million.
Counselors say budget cuts have left them unable to respond to students’ mental health needs.
Washington state is going further than any other to cover aging Americans' medical bills.
Immigrants make up a quarter of the long-term care workforce, which struggles with high turnover. Without them, shortages could worsen and make it harder for people to age at home.
Amid concerns over "fake" exemptions, California is debating a bill that would make public health officials sign off on them like they do in other states. Doctors support the legislation, but the Democratic governor has criticized it.
Not a single state has applied for a State Relief and Empowerment Waiver that's meant to lower premiums. Why not?
More people are believed to be relying on family and friends to watch their kids. Minneapolis is helping to educate those informal providers.
Infant mortality rates have dropped in expansion states and risen in nonexpansion states.
There's a problem with the Trump administration's proposal that Secretary Ben Carson defended before Congress on Tuesday. Local authorities don't want to enforce it.
Funerals have become a luxury that many Americans can’t afford. Cities and counties are paying the price.
Aging out of the system brings tough challenges that states are trying to help young adults overcome.
Gov. Gavin Newsom struck a deal with lawmakers over the weekend.
On Monday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed the nation's first "public option" health insurance bill. Other states aren't far behind.
States are receiving mixed messages from the federal government and have unanswered questions about their plans to lower drug prices.
The population experiences homelessness at disproportionate rates.
Due to the high cost of naloxone, only a fraction of the nation’s police departments equip their officers with it.
These clinics have radically changed how addicts are treated and reduced opioid overdoses in other countries. But the U.S. cities trying to open one are facing intense pushback.
Minnesota and Ohio are weighing whether to repeal loopholes that make it legal to rape your spouse.
Even though a federal judge put the policy's legality in doubt, the Trump administration approved Utah's work requirement waiver on Friday. Meanwhile, Indiana already started phasing them in, and isn't stopping.
New Jersey is the eighth state to approve "aid in dying" for terminally ill patients. But similar legislation was defeated in two other states.
The report found 14 states to be in violation of federal Medicaid law as it pertains to abortion coverage.
At least 95 have closed their doors since 2010, and roughly a quarter of the ones left are at risk of shuttering.
As once-eradicated diseases return, more and more states are debating legislation that would make it harder, or easier, for parents to not vaccinate their kids.
Years before the Trump administration's family planning changes, the state of Texas cut funding from reproductive health clinics. Low-income women felt the impact the most.
Unless the government gets both issues under control, public health experts say President Trump will never realize his goal of eradicating HIV.
Several states have vowed to sue the Trump administration over its new rules that will withhold federal funding from health clinics that provide abortion services or referrals.
The public comment period for the Trump administration's proposal ends Tuesday. Researchers say "hunger will likely increase" if it takes effect.
Yes, experts say, but an extra dollar or two an hour won't free low-income people from poverty altogether.
Everyone agrees that America’s foster care system needs reform. But some worry the new law may do more harm than good.
In almost every state where ballot measures to expand Medicaid have passed, Republicans have tried to change the voter-approved laws.
While conservative lawmakers push "heartbeat" bills that could challenge Roe v. Wade in court, liberals are pushing legislation that allows late-term abortions during pregnancies with severe health complications.
The parents of at least a quarter of a million kids are at risk of deportation. In case that happens, lawmakers are adding protections -- with bipartisan support -- for the children left behind.
Denver may be the first major city where voters approved a tax increase for mental health services. Others have since followed.
Historically, attorneys general rarely weigh in on health policy or go up against each other in the courtroom over it. Then came the Affordable Care Act.
States are scrambling to figure out how to fund the $4-billion-a-month food stamps program -- and whether to keep cash welfare going. Some say it's "probably not possible."
Bipartisan support for reducing recidivism is driving most states to relax or lift the federal ban on drug felons receiving food stamps or cash assistance. Pennsylvania went the other way.
While the Trump administration mulls over the domestic "gag rule" and state requests to defund Planned Parenthood, abortion bills are making their way through legislatures and courts.
New York is set to become the third state Medicaid program to cover pregnancy and birth coaches for low-income women as a way of lowering the maternal mortality rate.
California is the first state to require physicians to inform patients about their history of sexual misconduct, overprescribing medications, criminal convictions or substance abuse. Will others follow?
By many measures, the anti-vaccination movement is thriving. But not in California, which removed nonmedical exemptions after measles spread throughout the state.
By the end of her first term, Hawaii state Rep. Lauren Matsumoto was hospitalized for exhaustion from trying to "do it all."
The response from city officials: So what? They are pushing forward to open the controversial facilities that exist in other countries as a way to reduce drug overdoses.
There is less than one week left of the public comment period for the proposed "public charge" rule.
Who gets health insurance subsidies, and how they're used, could drastically change if states take the federal government's guidance released on Thursday.
A recent federal ruling is driving cities to revisit their local ordinances and methods of reducing homelessness.
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An expert on women in politics dissects the 2018 midterms.
With less federal funding for outreach and advertising, and no more tax penalty for being uninsured, it's harder to convince people to sign up for health care.
The 1978 federal pregnancy discrimination law hasn’t kept up with changes in the workplace, and efforts to reform it have failed.
"This is something that school districts are just going to have to plan for," says an education official in Washington state, which is proactively helping these students succeed and secure housing.
The trajectory of health policy -- from Medicaid to abortion to soda taxes -- is set for change in some states.
Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Virginia state Rep. Jennifer Carroll Foy reflects on her first year in office and how she got there.
Preschoolers are eight times, on average, more likely to get kicked out. States are starting to notice and intervene.
Wisconsin just got approval to implement the new rule, and it will take effect in two other states in January. Meanwhile, more than 8,000 people have lost health insurance in Arkansas -- many who may comply with the rule but not know about it.
St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones reflects on her loss in the mayor's race and what she's been doing since.
But on the issue of grocery taxes, voters in the Pacific Northwest were divided.
Some say John Kasich is "the first governor who has been able to move the private sector to really participate in health-care reform."
States and cities are trying to use science to create better policies and programs. New federal foster care rules are complicating their efforts.
It is not as strict as the leaked version but would still drastically limit what benefits they could use without risking green cards or permanent residency status.
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Jackie Biskupski is the first openly gay elected official in Utah. But her sexual orientation isn't what her critics want to talk about.
In Maine, which has a greater share of older residents than any other state, voters rejected a ballot measure that would have provided free long-term care to anyone who needs it.
This country has never had an effective public policy toward mental illness. In Chicago, things seem to be getting even worse.
The lounges have often fallen through loopholes in local smoking bans. That's starting to change.
In the first referendum on the law since Congressional Republicans tried and failed to repeal it, three out of four states voted to expand Medicaid.
Since the #MeToo movement started, state lawmakers have been taking more action than their federal counterparts to prevent and address workplace sexual harassment.
The rule, which is projected to save states $150 million a year, went into effect this summer.
Alabama and West Virginia voters preemptively criminalized abortion in case Roe v. Wade is struck down. But voters in Oregon defeated an attempt to restrict coverage.
Massachusetts would have been the second state with nurse-to-patient ratio requirements.
States are starting to integrate mental health into their curriculum -- whether it's English or biology class.
The elections come at a crucial time for health care.
Landlords often reject applicants who use public assistance to help pay their rent.
Health policy experts say that the anticipated proposal could have negative ripple effects across the health-care system.
Babies die at higher rates in the U.S. than in poorer countries like Cuba and Poland.
Health policy experts worry that the controversial plans the Trump administration is pushing could undo some of the progress being made with Obamacare premiums.
Cities used to stay out of courtroom battles over health. Not anymore. Their new Obamacare lawsuit represents a growing strategy.
It has accepted one state's unprecedented proposal to lower the cost of prescriptions but rejected another's.
Already short-staffed and underfunded, these offices have been hit hard by the opioid crisis.
Before it goes on vacation, the U.S. Senate could significantly cut child welfare funding in states with anti-discrimination policies protecting LGBT people who want to adopt or foster.
Instead, they’re connecting drug abusers to substance treatment and other resources.
With the future of Roe v. Wade uncertain, the state is on the verge of repealing its 173-year-old law that criminalizes abortion. Similar efforts are underway in some other states.
With rents on the rise, cities are grappling with a growing population of "vehicular homelessness" -- a way of life considered illegal in many places.
Many are tapping into tax revenues, making hospitals help, or adding work requirements and premiums to account for their increasing share of the expansion bill. In some, the debate is so heated that it's ended up in court.
The federal government wants to roll back an Obama-era rule that lets some Medicaid payments go toward unions that represent home health care workers -- one of the fastest-growing and lowest-paid jobs.
Instead of making low-income kids travel for meals when school is out, Minneapolis is bringing the food to them.
Ohio Rep. Emilia Sykes gets stopped by security trying to enter her place of work. She wants others to share their stories of prejudice.
Work requirements failed their first court test, in Kentucky. The case leaves the legality of other states' policies uncertain, but some of them are moving forward with business as usual anyway.
The retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy increases the likelihood of extreme restrictions passing legal scrutiny.
States are making products for women and children -- particularly those in prison or poverty -- more affordable.
Supreme Court justices on Tuesday sided with anti-abortion groups in a case over what information crisis pregnancy centers have to give patients.
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At least she didn't used to. Now, she says, times have changed.
The president promised to give states more flexibility on health care. His administration has -- but with some restrictions.
"Your mayor, city council and city manager has just as much of an impact on your health as your doctor," say the authors of a new report.
More than a dozen states either have or are still considering the idea of letting people buy Medicaid -- regardless of how much money they make.
The issue will likely be moving to the ballot box this November.
A change in federal law lets more than just law enforcement agencies collect unused and unwanted pills.
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"I have fantastic male colleagues who stood by me and defended me," says Colorado Rep. Faith Winter.
The federal government's new plan is short on details, but it makes one thing clear: It will ease regulations that burden rural providers -- many of whom are struggling to survive.
Federal money already can't be spent on abortions. The Trump administration now wants to keep any funds from going to organizations that support the procedure.
Several states promised to pass their own mandates. Only one has. What happened?
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Gender equity advocates are excited about the prospect of a record number of women running for office. But Erin Vilardi, founder of VoteRunLead, says running isn't good enough.
In an attempt to lower health-care costs, Massachusetts is seeking to exclude certain drugs from its Medicaid program. It's a bold step, experts say, that will not only invite imitation but also lawsuits.
Rosalynn Bliss says social work keeps her grounded as a politician. That, and meditation.
Governments are just starting to confront the issue.
Ambulances are expensive. Some cities are beginning to offer other ways to get to the hospital.
Some health officials say nothing. Members of Congress, meanwhile, are taking matters of money for the drug crisis into their own hands.
Dirty needles left behind by drug users have become so prevalent in parks that some public health agencies are leaning on citizens to clean them up.
The new rules are designed to reduce premiums, but health policy experts say they will have little effect.
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Jackie Lacey says she didn't realize how tough she was until she ran for Los Angeles County District Attorney.
At a time when the aid-in-dying movement is suffering elsewhere, Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed a bill on Thursday giving terminally ill residents the option.
With both kinds of traumatic events on the rise, school counselors can't keep up with the demand for mental health services.
Utah and Virginia are both closer than ever to making more low-income people eligible for free or low-cost health care. What made them change their minds?
The Trump administration rejected Idaho's attempt to offer health insurance that doesn't follow Obamacare rules. Iowa thinks it has a new strategy that will win federal approval.
It’s largely up to states to regulate these facilities -- many of which don’t even employ full-time nurses.
President Trump will announce new plans for fighting the opioid crisis on Monday. Meanwhile, several states are exploring their own new policy: tax drug companies for the opioids they produce.
On average, female doctors made $105,000 less than male doctors last year, and the gender pay gap actually increased.
When the governor signs what will be the nation's strictest abortion ban, lawsuits are expected. Some say that was the point.
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A health crisis in Alabama led officials to an unconventional solution: Hand out cash to change citizen behavior.
Despite early enthusiasm, even the most liberal states are struggling to get enough support to restore the health insurance requirement that Congress repealed in December.
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On the night of the mass shooting, Kristin Jacobs was in the room as parents received news about missing children. "If you were in that room," she says, "how could you let nothing happen?"
The federal government's response to Idaho's unprecedented plan to ignore parts of the federal health law could have ripple effects throughout the country.
The stats are most troubling in Utah and among boys, whose suicide rate had been on the decline for almost two decades.
Clinics and health departments won't get more Title X funding until months after last year's money will have expired, and organizations like Planned Parenthood have new reason to worry they might get less.
They are calling on the Trump administration to, among other things, restore subsidy payments and support more state reinsurance programs.
With Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's signature on Tuesday, almost half the states now ban government workers' insurance from covering abortion services.
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Susana Mendoza was just 28 years old when she was first elected. Now she oversees how her former colleagues are spending their state's money.
After a four-month standoff, and a brief shutdown on Friday, Congress will provide long-term relief to community health centers and programs that help at-risk parents and low-income families.
As the Trump administration lets states experiment with work requirements and other eligibility rules, the costs are adding up. Some policy experts worry they are "shifting spending from health care for needy families to administrative bureaucracy."
The failure to pass a long-term federal budget is hurting clinics that largely serve low-income and rural areas. States aren't offering any relief.
“I grew up believing that’s what you do, that when a problem arises it’s your civic duty to step in and fashion a solution for your community."
That’s what many Iowans, home to the state with the fewest mental health beds, are asking candidates for governor.
The first lawsuit fighting the Trump-approved policy was filed this week. If a court sides with opponents, work requirements could be dead before they even begin.
More states may legalize physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. But even where it is allowed, some doctors still refuse to offer it.
President Trump signed a short-term spending bill on Monday evening that ends the government shutdown and reauthorizes CHIP for six years.
Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Activist Glynda Carr discusses the growing political power of black women.
States have requested to enact several other unprecedented policies. Kentucky on Friday reportedly became the first to get its waiver approved.
Programs that aid the opioid epidemic, medically underserved areas and at-risk mothers and children also have uncertain futures.
Supervised injection facilities, which only exist in other countries, encounter roadblocks everywhere they're proposed in the U.S. But as the opioid epidemic rages on, one might open this year.
The rise of sexually transmitted diseases is challenging public health departments.
Some cities and states have to get creative to market themselves.
When hackers target hospitals, the consequences can be dire. Yet hospitals have little help preventing or responding to such attacks.
Although it seemed like it at times, Obamacare wasn't the only health policy up for debate this year.
Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Debbie Walsh says the wave of women elected this year is a sign of bigger things to come.
The bill signed by President Trump helps states keep the Children's Health Insurance Program afloat, but it doesn't offer any reassurance that kids won't lose their health care in 2018.
As rural hospitals struggle to keep their doors open, the high cost of ob-gyn wards makes them one of the first things cut.
Last month's election has re-energized Obamacare advocates. Meanwhile in Maine, the matter is being complicated by Gov. Paul LePage, who has vowed not to implement an expansion until lawmakers show how they'll fund it.
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"Most local governments are run by white men, so there hasn’t needed to be a conversation about what diversity looks like."
It's been almost two months since Congress let what's historically been a bipartisan program expire.
Lawsuits are being filed practically every week. Will governments prevail over the pharmaceutical industry like they did the tobacco industry in the 1990s?
A year after California voters rejected what would have been a first-of-its-kind state law to regulate drug prices, Ohioans did the same.
The vote signals support for the health-care law at a time when President Trump is taking major steps to reverse it.
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Marian Orr, the first female mayor of Cheyenne, Wyo., exemplifies the power of social media.
Voters could alter the future of Medicaid, drug prices and abortion in their states.
Some aren’t just covering yoga and acupuncture but recommending it before prescription drugs.
Amid uncertainty over the law's future, premiums will rise an average of 34 percent next year. In a few states, though, they'll actually go down.
With future federal funding uncertain, states may freeze enrollment in a program that helps at-risk parents care for their newborns.
She helped craft Mike Pence’s conservative approach to expanding Medicaid in Indiana. Now, the CMS administrator is one of President Trump's top contenders to replace Tom Price.
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In a new podcast interview, the former two-term Washington governor says the lack of women in public office is her "biggest pet peeve."
If passed, the state would become the 33rd to expand Medicaid and signal support for Obamacare at a time when President Trump is taking major steps to reverse it.
With no end to the epidemic in sight, the feds are helping some states treat more addicts.
The state has one of the lowest resident-to-physician ratios in the country, which puts it in a uniquely vulnerable position to respond to large-scale emergencies.
Governing: State and local government news and analysis
Kanika Tomalin's roots help her understand economic issues better than your average public official.
Some states are already preparing to freeze enrollment or cut off children's health insurance as they face the near possibility of running out of money for the program.
Jane Swift, former governor of Massachusetts, believes having public-sector experience is the quickest way to get ahead in the private sector -- especially for women.
The medical field has been reluctant to adopt technology. There are reasons to believe that’s changing.
The state passed the nation's most comprehensive law to make drug prices more transparent. It has also inspired other states to take on the pharmaceutical companies in November.
Governing: State and local government news and analysis
The first black woman elected to the Kentucky state House in almost 20 years says she gets the label sometimes for simply speaking her mind.
Although many governors oppose the latest repeal bill, it has some of what they've asked for.
Obamacare's fate remains unknown, but at least one thing is certain: The law has led to a record number of people having health insurance.
Kasich and Hickenlooper released a bipartisan set of recommendations on Thursday, but observers predict their influence will only go so far.
More flexibility could make it easier to adopt industry-backed reforms. It could also let conservatives enact policies that Obama rejected.
The once-antiquated practice is making a comeback -- and saving states money. But it's not without hurdles.
A federal memo calls for feminine hygiene products to be free for inmates, energizing a movement that began in state prisons and local jails.
New York City prides itself on being the epicenter of progressive politics -- and yet, it has one of the nation's worst gender gaps in city politics.
"Training in 'the sticks,' sticks," says one medical professional. But first, rural areas have to get doctors there.
Health policy experts say other conservative states often follow Missouri's lead on abortion measures. This year, the state passed several never-before-seen regulations.
There are still some major unanswered questions about Trump's declaration.
And what they want states to do while Congress tries.
The conflicts playing out in one North Carolina county could be plaguing other places.
Health policy experts say the move could further destabilize the market.
Jennifer Lawless is optimistic about the wave of women thinking about running for office -- but only tepidly.
The Trump administration's attempt this weekend to win their support didn't go as planned.
Blair Milo is used to being underestimated because of her age and gender. She doesn't let it stop her from running a city.
Baltimore is already rationing its use.
Most states can't meet baby boomers' demand for staying out of nursing homes.
The current drug crisis is different from previous ones. Some say it requires a new mode of thinking.
Even in cities that have tried to address the problem, babies are still dying at high rates for a developed nation.
There are certainly challenges, says Pennsylvania's physician general, but "eventually people will just judge us based off our qualifications and the work we do."
As public works director for Phoenix, Ginger Spencer is trying to make her city the most sustainable in the world.
While Congress is gridlocked on health care, the state's GOP governor and Democratic legislature have been busy finding common ground -- til now.
Ohio and Missouri now have dozens of counties without an insurer. Other states are trying to prevent a similar situation, but their actions can only go so far.
Tobacco and soda companies disproportionately target minority citizens and lawmakers with advertising and lobbying. One city is fed up.
Some schools are using telemedicine to provide health care to students in underserved districts. But few think it’s a cure for their ailments.
Medicaid, children's health insurance and chronic disease programs would be first to feel the weight of the president's proposals.
The Obama administration rejected many conservative politicians' attempts to alter the health-care program for the poor. With Trump in the White House, they may finally get their way.
Most 911 calls don't actually require a trip to the hospital. Instead, telemedicine can do the trick, and Houston's system is catching on among the country's paramedics.
Pennsylvania's governor is using that logic to persuade lawmakers to adopt the nation's highest minimum wage. Not everyone is convinced.
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Evelyn Sanguinetti's career in politics all started with a bad fall.
The idea will likely attract more attention if the Trump administration agrees to fund it.
Politicians and health-care leaders were asked what they learned while carrying out one of the industry's biggest overhauls.
Maternal mortality rates have been increasing throughout the nation. But if Texas was a country, it would have the highest in the developed world.
Every state but one has a tracking system to combat the opioid epidemic. They have long been criticized as difficult to use, but upgrades are on their way.
President Trump and congressional Republicans want to strip federal funding from clinics that provide abortions. But not every GOP governor will help.
Since taking office more than a decade ago, Toni Carter has made her mark on Ramsey County.
In the days since Republicans killed their health-care plan, support for one of Obamacare's central policies has grown in states where the GOP has stunted it for years.
Many cities and states have made commitments to support and promote farm-to-table food. But few have fraud protections in place to make sure people are eating truly "local."
That's the mantra of Dr. Leana Wen, the health commissioner of Baltimore and our guest for the latest episode of "The 23%: Conversations With Women in Government."
As the opioid epidemic rages on, public officials are being forced to consider controversial ways to curb it. In Seattle, that means opening the nation's first supervised injection facility.
The disease was nearly eradicated around 2000 but has been on the rise since 2012. Health officials partially blame the opioid epidemic.
From blunt criticism to cautious optimism, not a single governor has given the House bill a full-throated endorsement.
People who have HIV and lack stable housing are less likely to get the care they need. Some places are trying to solve both problems at once.
Seven health-care policies you could see more of if the Affordable Care Act is replaced.
For our first episode, we talked to someone who mixes politics with reality TV. And, no, it isn't Donald Trump. Listen now.
States are increasingly investing in community health workers to improve their residents' health.
People with mental illness are far more likely to commit suicide in the months after a hospital stay.
The places that treat the poorest and sickest often fail to meet safety standards. Some say the penalties need to be adjusted.
Some policy experts think Minnesota has one, but it could be a tough sell for lawmakers in other states.
Democratic lawmakers are trying to make sure women have affordable access to birth control and abortion -- regardless of what Congress and the Trump administration does.
The states and cities expanding early education have wrestled with the question of what qualifies as "universal."
The research is exhaustive and yet simultaneously scarce. In some cases, it's even contradictory.
In planning their finances for the year, governors are counting on health care to remain the same. But if it doesn't, states could suddenly be on the hook for billions of dollars.
The Obamacare debate puts them in a tough spot and for many, up against their Republican counterparts in Congress.
Governments and nonprofits are increasingly looking to neighborhood barbers and hairdressers to help with problems at home and narrow gaps in education and health care.
Libraries are frequently forced to deal with people's health problems. That's why some are adding medical professionals to their staff.
Like much of the president's policies, his most recent rule on funding for abortion providers may not matter once Donald Trump takes the White House.
Particularly in rural areas, governments are increasingly turning to them to ease the shortage of providers, blurring the line between religion and medicine.
The first lady's signature initiative helped more than 500 municipalities address obesity. Now that she's leaving the White House, the future of the program is uncertain.
Pedestrian-friendly cities are healthier cities, which is why many are making it easier for residents to ditch their cars.
When states tried the all-payer model decades ago, it largely didn't live up to its cost-cutting goals. But Vermont is taking a slightly different approach.
Unlike America, which has one of the highest infant mortality rates of developed countries, Finland has one of the world's lowest.
The idea that needle exchanges encourage illegal drug use is fading just as rapidly as the programs are expanding.
Republicans gained power in several states last week, clearing the way for some to more easily restrict abortion and roll back other reforms.
"Most places don’t like to think about teens having sex." But that's not the only reason.
Within states, rural areas often face higher premiums than their urban counterparts. Yet two of the most rural states saw some of the lowest premium increases this year.
The industry spent millions of dollars to keep voters in California from passing a first-in-nation law that was meant to cut the soaring cost of prescription drugs.
The right to die has been slow to gain momentum, especially among voters. In Colorado, they defied the odds.
With most newborn screenings still done on paper, there’s a born-again push to improve and speed up the process for detecting health problems.
Even though the federal government has repeatedly rejected certain health-care requests, many Republican-led states keep asking for them.
Californians were the only to agree to raise the price of tobacco. Will it impact smoking rates?
One of the goals of President Obama's signature health reform is to focus more on population health, but the programs are off to a slow start.
As states consider following Tennessee’s footsteps, they’ll be closely watching its experience.
Despite Bernie Sanders' campaigning, Colorado voters overwhelmingly rejected plans to make their state the first in America to create a universal health-care system.
It's a win for the porn industry and the state of California, which stood to lose millions of dollars if the measure passed.
The rates range from 2.8 percent to 17.1 percent.
Extending summer break may be good for the economy, but there are unintended consequences.
More than 30 percent of the country, up from 4 percent last year, could have just one carrier to choose from this fall.
Only one state's voters rejected easing access to the drug.
Community paramedicine, which can drastically reduce unnecessary ER visits, could be the future of emergency care.
People in remote areas have long lacked access to mental health services. The movement to fix that is showing signs of life.
A Q&A with Umair Shah, director of one of the nation's biggest public health departments.
Officials don't know why the disease is disproportionately impacting gay men in big cities. They're getting the CDC involved to find out.
More states are rejecting federal funding for evidence-based sex education. That could mean a return of abstinence-only instruction in many schools.
It's the latest government to rewrite the rules for getting out of fiscal distress.
Lawmakers are pouring millions of dollars into making their states a destination for patients around the world. Will their investments pay off?
After Congress left cities to fend for themselves, four new cases -- possibly the first to be contracted by mosquitoes in the U.S. -- suggest how difficult it is for them to combat the virus on their own.
Boulder County, Colo., pioneered the movement. What can others learn from their experience?
In a small but growing number of states, expectant inmates are getting help dealing with the trauma of giving birth and then having to say goodbye.
States are increasingly pairing mental health and substance abuse patients with peer specialists -- people who have experienced some of the same problems themselves.
In an effort to survive, several of the remaining health co-ops are fighting the landmark law. Unlike most legal challenges to it, they may actually have a case.
Freestanding ERs have been around for years. But only recently have they become profit-focused, deceptive places of care.
New studies show that the main weapon against opioid overdoses is showing promise, but states could be doing more to save lives.
The worrisome state of rural health care has led many to wonder.
Baltimore is at the forefront of a movement to expand public health's arena to include social ills such as gun violence and drug addiction.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down abortion restrictions in Texas on Monday, making it likely that other states will see challenges to their own reproductive laws.
In the wake of another mass shooting and amid congressional inaction on gun control, the state has announced plans to open the nation's first public research center dedicated to firearm violence.
If California soon becomes the first state to let undocumented immigrants use the health insurance marketplace, will others follow?
One state's rejection of Medicaid expansion can hurt health-care systems in another state, according to a new study.
Federal law bans states from regulating air ambulance companies, leaving patients with exorbitant out-of-pocket medical bills.
From coast to coast, governments are teaming up with nonprofits to fight one of the most common yet most preventable kinds of cancer.
Despite many failed attempts, only one city in America taxes sugary drinks. The results of a new study might change that.
Most corrections facilities detain mentally ill people instead of providing them with timely care.
Anti-abortion advocates have allegedly found stealthier ways to shut down clinics.
Shrinking competition has many states worried about rising insurance prices. California has the tools to handle it better than most.
Less competition typically means higher prices for consumers. But that isn’t necessarily true in the case of health insurance exchanges.
A sweeping Medicaid change has the potential for states to address the dangerous shortage of doctors outside urban and suburban areas.
Alarming infection rates bring more attention to treatment in communities of color.
With more cases cropping up by the day, local governments have to act quickly -- and without help from the federal government.
The governor talks about what it's like to juggle chemotherapy with the business of running a state.
Assisted living facilities have become more popular in recent years, but abundant closures and lax state regulations have led to more calls for new regulations.
The model of care is proven to improve health outcomes and save billions of dollars, but it hasn't been widely embraced. A new initiative could change that.
The federal government is changing the way it reimburses states for Native Americans' health care. The implications could be big -- and not just for Native Americans.
The new rules could create an influx of patients with mental health and substance abuse issues in states that are already struggling to meet the current demand.
States and cities want to support women- and minority-owned businesses. But they often don’t know who they’re really paying.
There's a growing movement to make the drug that can reverse overdoses widely available at pharmacies, police departments and schools.
States are spending millions fighting the law that courts uphold almost every time.
The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act is just a Senate vote away from the president's desk.
There's a growing movement -- even in some conservative states with strict abortion regulations -- to make birth control more accessible.
States are starting to consider the problems with Alzheimer's care more seriously. But they have a long way to go.
Puerto Rican immigrants -- many of them sick and in need of care -- are flocking to the states in unprecedented numbers. New York has volunteered to help the island, but it may not be able to.
With federal incentives to go electronic expiring this year, many wonder what can be done to reach physicians who still rely on paper.
When people refused -- sometimes violently -- to help health officials contain an outbreak of tuberculosis in rural Alabama, the state resorted to paying people to get tested. Did it work?
In their meeting with the president Monday, a bipartisan group of governors sought his help in their fight against prescription drug abuse.
The federal government wants to ban smoking in public housing nationwide. It could save millions of dollars, but that doesn't allay some cities' concerns.
Bills to make feminine hygiene products tax-exempt have been introduced in several states this year. So far, the legislation has already failed in one.
As fears of the virus rise in America, public health departments are ramping up their efforts to educate the public and eradicate the mosquitoes that spread it.
Most schools aren't meeting the CDC's recommendations for teaching students about sex, and the curriculum is far worse in some states.
Like most rural areas, Alaska suffers from high rates of mental illness and a deficiency of mental health providers. The state may have a solution.
The explosion of online health-care apps and providers has forced states to face tough questions -- many of which they have yet to find an answer to.
The presidential candidate wants America to create a single-payer health system -- something no U.S. state has done before.
They're either debating or have already made big changes to their health-care programs for the poor.
Facing one of the highest infant mortality rates in the country, Columbus, Ohio, is taking the time to understand its unique causes.
But at least one state is leading the charge to change that.
There are a number of reasons emergency rooms get chaotic around the holidays -- some of which may be surprising.
States and cities spent this enrollment season finding creative ways to reach the millions who still have no health insurance.
Roughly 1 in 20 pregnant women use illicit drugs. States are cracking down on the problem with starkly different approaches.
Planned Parenthood gets most of the attention in the abortion debate. But independent clinics and their employees actually provide the majority of abortions in America -- and are more at-risk.
Reflecting a broader trend of merging health care with other services, a city in California recently opened a clinic next to a firehouse.
Most Southern states have refused for years to make more people eligible for government health care. But a few governors may change that.
The rate has increased in every state in the last decade, yet few are doing much to prevent it.
Critics and supporters predicted that the federal health law would have a huge impact on the time it takes to see a doctor. Turns out they were both wrong.
To address the underlying issues that led to the unrest in Ferguson, Mo., local leaders are expanding the traditional role of public health departments.
Facing a health-care crisis on top of financial troubles, Puerto Rico is getting help from the mainland. But why would New York come to Puerto Rico's rescue?
Co-ops were created to keep the cost of insurance down on Obamacare marketplaces. Now half of them are going out of business.
Mississippi voters, facing two competing (and confusing) ballot questions on school quality, chose to make no changes to the state constitution.
In a county with more than 50 districts, schools are putting parents in charge of tackling problems that may have otherwise been ignored. It may be a model for other municipalities.
As STD rates rise among the elderly, health-care providers and public health departments continue to shy away from discussing their sexual health. Is it time for a sexual revolution?
It's the first municipality to center an awareness campaign around intrauterine devices, the most effective form of birth control that few women choose. Will others follow?
Since its inception 50 years ago, Medicaid has become one of the nation's biggest government programs. But most states don't treat it as such.
After a two-year delay, U.S. hospitals have to start using a new coding system in October -- a move that could hurt rural and smaller hospitals particularly hard.
More than 20 percent of people in every state are obese, with the rate exceeding 35 percent in three states.
They all have at least one thing in common.
Several places, including the nation's fittest city, want to regulate personal trainers. Is the new push about safety or boosting public revenue?